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News > Latin America

Latin America Celebrates Its Legacy of Rebel Music!

  • Andrea Echeverri from Aterciopelados performs during a concert in Mexico City, 2016.

    Andrea Echeverri from Aterciopelados performs during a concert in Mexico City, 2016. | Photo: Facebook

Published 22 November 2016
Opinion

teleSUR looks at four of the most influential bands and musicians from Latin America.

The region of Latin America and the Caribbean is an endless source of rhythms and sounds that have inspired musicians to create iconic songs and melodies that have been heard across the globe.

Here are four of the most influential bands and musicians from the region who have left an indelible mark on the minds of millions of people, and who have also contributed to make a better world.

Aterciopelados (The Velvety Ones)

This legendary band from Colombia fuses rock with a variety of Colombian and Latin American musical traditions. They have been active for more than 20 years and have been recognized by important musical publications as one of the best bands in the world.

Aterciopelados is led by Andrea Echeverri and Hector Buitrago, both human rights and environmental activists, whose philsophies shine through their lyrics which are full of messages of peace and awareness about climate change.

They campaigned for the "yes" during the plebiscite on a peace deal between the FARC guerrillas and the central government.

They also were chosen by the U.N. to compose the song "Price of Silence" to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Cafe Tacuba

This Mexican band is probably one of the best well known in the world. Their musical style covers a wide variety of genres that also include traditional Latin American rhythms.

They were founded in 1989 and have become very popular since then. They have maintained their original line-up, and literally every Latin America knowns at least one of their songs, which are part of the pop culture in the region.

Cafe Tacuba has advocated for so many causes, including LGBT rights,  Indigenous rights, environmental protection and peace.

They have also been very critical of the Mexican government and the disastrous war on drugs which has left over 100,000 dead and disappeared in their country.

In 2014 they joined a campaign to demand justice in the enforced disappearance of the 43 Ayotzinapa students in the Mexican state of Guerrero, an unsolved case that has drawn attention around the world.

Calle 13

Unfortunately this band does not exist anymore, however their music and lyrics will not disappear from the minds of millions any time soon.

Since its debut in 2004, the Puerto Rican Hip Hop band proudly and loudly showed their political points of view with combative, revolutionary speech on behalf of marginalized and oppressed. They were also promoters of the  Puerto Ricans independence from the United States as a means of decolonization.

The band was formed by stepbrothers Rene Perez, aka Residente, and Eduardo Jose Cabra, aka Visitante, and  was a close ally of progressive governments in the region, like Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, Brazil and Argentina.

They always denounced through their songs the way that imperialism has influenced and destroyed the lives of people in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Gustavo Cerati

This Argentine musician is literally one of the most important Latin Americans in history.

A was a great musician and composer, during the 1980s he led the legendary band Soda Stereo, which was one of the first bands in the region that had international success.

As a soloist Cerati managed to mix all kind of styles, always starting from electronic music, and adding guitars and synthesizers.

Besides being a great musician, he was also a great altruist and along with other Latin stars performed hundreds of concerts to support the poor children of Latin America and the Caribbean. Unfortunately he died in 2014 after being in a coma for four years.

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